Thoughts held in mind produce after their kind.

I am normally a staunch supporter of "freedom of the press", but these days I have a major beef with the media.

Do you remember reading about Yellow Journalism when you were in high school? The practice of taking the most sensational approach possible to a story in order to create anxiety, in a quest to compel readers to read on? Well, Yellow Journalism appears to be alive and well on every street corner, on every station as "The Media" competes for our attention.

Consider these two statements:

• the economy is in trouble
  
• the economy is a social construction, and its well being is the sum of our collective belief about it.
  

Now consider this -- "The Media" has the ability to control how severely you and I believe the first to be.

And in so doing, directly shape the outcome of the second.

With that in mind, here are some phrases I read today in my favorite daily:

• "Most economists now assume that the American fortunes will not improve before near the end of the year" [MOST economists unnamed, and what research study was used to gather their opinions undisclosed]
  
• "The latest grim scorecard of contraction in the American workplace largely destroyed what hopes remained for an economic recovery in the first half of this year"
  
• "2009 is probably a lost cause"
  
• "In crucial industries — particularly manufacturing, financial services and retail — many companies have opted to abandon whole areas of business"
  
• "These jobs aren’t coming back"

Stomach in a knot yet? I could go on -- but you get my drift. When you read these words, what is your reaction? If you're like me, after tossing back a tall one, you vow to pull in. Start to save every penny. You start buying cheaper coffee, and maybe a little less "rounding" in every scoop.

So, you stop spending, and start to squirrel your money away, preparing for the disaster that surely lies just up ahead. If you were considering purchasing your first home, you don't. If you were thinking of buying a car, you wait. If you were going to go on vacation, you stay home. Because you never know what is right around the corner.

But the business we DON'T do within our economy causes the economy itself to suffer. Small businesses. Large businesses. Your business. And mine. It's a self-fulfilling prophesy.

With a downshift of patrons, as a business owner, you stop spending yourself, delay purchasing needed inventories, stop hiring, take the worst possible forecast numbers, and reduce them by 20%. Then you lay-off your workers accordingly.

But like I said, it's a self fulfilling prophesy. And we had all better start prophesying a positive outcome, because we are all responsible for how this story ends!

Now, I am not advocating a Pollyanna approach, or burying our heads in the sand. But when some of our finest journalistic institutions opt to take a sensational approach instead of offering a measured, educational and constructive editorial approach to covering the economy, it is the height of irresponsibility. You become more than an "impartial" 3rd party -- you become a root cause.

Yes, our economy has serious problems -- but continually poking at the wounds like a vindictive picador before the bull is killed only further distracts and weakens the animal and ensures its ultimate demise.

We thought our way into this mess, and we can think our way out -- that is if we can all keep ourselves from becoming mindless with fear. And the media has a critical role it can play - to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Now, I do not have access to the smartest economists in the nation. But I bet the New York Times does. So, instead of asking these experts to air their worst nightmares, how about asking them to dream up how we can get ourselves out of this downward spiral? And then share with the class, so we all have some cause for hope!

Years ago I had a beloved minister who used to remind us each week that "Thoughts held in mind produce after their kind." A gentle reminder that no great invention was ever created without someone first believing it could be so. Likewise, there is no man-made disaster that can't be averted if we turn our minds to it. If we hold an idea firmly in mind, then we will act as if it were so -- we will do the things that are necessary for it to BE so.

So my plea to the media -- wherever you are -- is to please start working constructively on uncovering the best and brightest ideas for finding a way to turn the ship around. Do your journalistic duty by us, and uncover something powerful and good. Something we can hold onto...and do our part to pursue.

As for the rest of us -- let's keep the good thought. Even if you can't bring yourself to buy a home, car or vacation, at least buy the "good coffee"...and keep making it strong -- we need you wide awake and perky for this next chapter. Keep patronizing your local small businesses.

We'll get through this. Together.